Does Seth need to use such a low price point? Nope. He just wants his idea to spread as fast as it can.

He creates significant value then gives it away. It gets him more reach, which he can use down the road to monetize any way he wants, from corporate consulting to starting up a network site.

Not that Seth would need to do this to get read, but I have seen other marketing experts buy thousands of their own book and give them away so they can make the best seller list. Exposure leads to more exposure, which leads to both trust and opportunity.

The web has so much free content on it because the links and attention are so important.

There are at least 6 big reasons selling information is hard

there is an abundance of information

many types of information have serious hidden biases or costs that allow a person to create something that looks rather valuable while not being so